Cigar-package.



A. SCHNEIDER. CIGAR PACKAGE. APPLICATION man MAY 29. 1916.

Patented Jun 12, 191?.

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ANTHONY SCHNEIDER, OF WHIPPANY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN CIGAR COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEV JERSEY.

CIGAR-PACKAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 12, 1917.

Application filed May 29, 1916. Serial No. 100,544.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTHONY SCHNEIDER, a. citizen of the United States, residing at iVhippany, in the county of Morris and State of New Jersey, have invented certain 'in packing, neatness in the appearance of the package, and convenience in selecting and removing cigars from the receptacle or container, it is a practice to stand the cigars on end or to arrange them in a substantially upright or vertical position in the container or receptacle, .as contradistinguished from'pursuing the ordinary method of packing the cigars, that is to say. placing the latter in substantially horizontal rows or layers, in the cigar box. Especially is this method of vertically stacking the cigars followed when the container is in the nature of a glass jar, a can, or other container which differs in shape or form from the ordinary cigar box. However, heretofore, there have been certain disadvantages incident to this method of vertically stacking or packing the cigars on end, or in upright position. For instance after several of the cigars have been removed from the container, the other cigars remain ing therein will usually cant or fall over into an inclined position, due to lack of proper support, and the more cigars that are removed from the package the greater will be the tendency of the remaining clgars to topple over. Thus, the cigars instead of being maintained in orderly array, assume various angular positions with respect to each other and to the container, so that in the handling of the cigars, as in the selection of the same by a customer, such cigars become easily broken or damaged. Furthermore, when a customer is making a selection and the package as a whole is dis ordered as above mentioned, some of the cigars adjacent the one which the customer is grasping or handling are liable to be bruised, broken or otherwise injured by the accidental contact of the fingers and fingernails of the person. I

With the provision of the present inventlon, however, I propose to obviate such disadvantages by so packaging the cigars within the container that they will be at all times maintained in substantially upright position, or on end, irrespective of the number of cigars within the container. Thus cigars may be withdrawn from the container from time to time without causing the cigars remaining in the container to be toppled over or upset.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a series of cells, pockets or similar means for maintaining the individual cigars, or a certain number of the same, in substantially upright position, a band, strip or web being arranged in contact with or adjacent the inner wall of the container in such manner that it not only conceals the cells, pockets or other cigar holding means from view, but may also, if desired, be printed or otherwise marked in such manner as to constitute a label for indicating the brand or other matter connected with the cigars, this label, strip or web, in case where the container is made of transparent material, such as glass, being exposed to view.

Furthermore, the label is preferably of such height or dimensions, that in the case where the cigars are provided with the usual identifying bands, the bands will show above the top of the edge of the label, and preferably will have the name of the brand thereon corresponding to the brand on the label so that, the purchaser can see at a glance that the individual cigars are banded or bear a brand conforming to the brand of the label. Furthermore, by means of my invention, each individual cigar may be grasped at the top end and withdrawn from the container without danger of the fingers contacting with and breaking the adjacent cigars.

With the above recited objects and others of a similar nature in view my invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts set forth in and falling within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of a cigar package embodying my invention, in this case the container being shown as made of glass.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the package shown in Fig. 1, with the cover removed.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of a portion of a cell or pocket strip.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the letter A indicates a suitable container which in the present instance is preferably made of glass andis consequently transparent, this container being substantially cylindrical in form, although it will be understood that it may be of any shape desired, and made of any suitable material. The cover for the container is shown at B and is adapted to be clamped to the top edge of the container proper by means of suitable clamping devices C. The cigars to be packaged are shown at D. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, as shown in the drawings, I provide a plurality of rows of cells or pockets, each cell or pocket being adapted to receive and hold a cigar. Furthermore, the pockets or cells of each row are connected together or attached to a continuous strip, such a strip being shown at E, while the individual pockets are each indicated by the letter F. By reference to Figs. 1 and 2 it will be seen that I have shown two concentrically arranged rows of pockets or cells, but it will of course be understood that there may be any number of these rows of cells or pockets, and furthermore, that they need not be of circular and concentrical arrangement, but may be positioned to suit the particular container in which they are used. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 it will be seen that in each cell or pocket F I place a cigar D and in making up the package I preferably proceed as follows: A continuous flat strip carrying the pockets is selected and the cigars are inserted therein. This strip is then placed within the container, being brought into substantially circular form while being placed therein so that a continuous circular row of cells or pockets carrying the cigars will lie next to the label strip or web G, the outer face of the latter lying against the in nor face of the vertical wall of the container. A second continuous strip of cells or pockets may then be filled with the cigars and coiled or bent into circular form and placed within the container and concentric to and in contact with the first or outermost row of the pockets. In the drawings, the outermost row of pockets is shown at H while the second or innermost row is indicated at I. If necessary, other rows of cells or pockets with the cigars may be placed within the container, but I have herein shown merely two such rows as sufficient to illustrate the invention. When the concentric rows of cells or pockets carrying the cigars have been placed in the containers just described, a circular space J will be left at the center of the container, as shown in Fig. 2, and this space may be filled with cigars, preferably by first placing therein and in contact with the innermost row of cells or pockets, a circular row of cigars shown at K, and then placing with in the confines of this row of cigars K, other cigars L, in the present instance three in number, and which preferably may be said to form the core of the package, these cen trally located cigars L pressing outward against the cigars K, and holding the latter against the cells and cigars of the row I. Now, it will be evident that in dispensing cigars from the container, one or more of such cigars may be withdrawn without causing the others to be upset an any great extent, or in other words to be displaced from their up-ended position. For instance, if the cigars L forming the core of the package be withdrawn the circular row of cigars K will remain in up-ended position, and even if some of the cigars K be withdrawn the remaining cigars of this row will not be totally upset, because they cannot fall outward toward the wall of the container on account of the rows of cigars in the cells or pockets, while if they fall inward toward the center of the package they will only deviate to a slight extent from the vertical or upright position before they will be caught and held either by the remaining cigars of the row K, or by the cigars of the row I. Experience has shown that in a package constructed as illustrated herein, all of the cigars L constituting the core of the package may be withdrawn, and even though some of the cigars in the row K be withdrawn the remaining cigars in the row will maintain a substantially upright position.

Of course the rows of cells or pockets shown at H and I rest upon the bottom of the container, and the meeting ends of each strip or row of pockets or cells may be pasted or otherwise joined together if desired. Naturally the individual cigars may be withdrawn from such pockets without disturbing or upsetting the cigars in the other pockets.

The web or strip G is preferably in the nature of a label, and in the present instance is'in the form of a circular band which is placed against the inner wall of the container with the bottom edge of the label resting upon the bottom of the container, and as this container is preferably made of glass, any printed matter such as is shown at M, in Fig. 1, will be exposed to view, and this printed matter for instance may embody the name or character or brand of the cigars and will preferably correspond with similar printed matter on the identifying bands N on the cigars D. As shown herein, each individual cigar D is preferably wrapped in paper, although this is not necessary. W hen the bands are located upon the cigars as usual I aim to make the label, web or strip of such height, that while it will conceal the rows of pockets or cells, its upper edge will terminate below the lines of the bands N, and consequently will not conceal the latter but these will be exposed to view so that a person may see that the markings of the individual cigar bands correspond to the markings on the label.

Furthermore, as will be clearly understood by reference to Fig. 1, I prefer to make the inner face 0, of the container bottom of convex form so that it is higher at the center than at its periphery or outer edge with the result that the cigars at the center or core of the package will have their top ends slightly elevated above the top ends of the adjacent cigars thereby enabling these cigars at the center of the package to be more easily withdrawn.

\Vhile I have herein shown and described one particular embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not con fine myself to all the precise details of construction herein set forth by way of illustration, as modification and variation may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the appended claims:

1. A cigar package comprising a container having a removable top and also having a series of cigar receiving cells or pockets therein for maintaining the cigars in upright position, said cells being positioned to form a substantially continuous wall bounding a central unobstructed space of fixed dimensions for the reception of other cigars which are adapted to be supported in up right position by contact with the cells and with each other.

2. A cigar package comprising a container having a row of cigar receiving cells or pockets located adjacent the inner wall of the container, a second row of cigar receiving cells or pockets independent of and located Within the confines of the first men tioned row of cells or pockets, said second row of cells or pockets being positioned to form a space at the center of the container for the reception of other cigars.

8. A cigar package comprising a transparent container having a plurality of continuous rows of cigar receiving pockets arranged concentrically therein, the innermost of said rows forming a space at the center of the container for the reception of cigars and a web or band constituting a label arranged in contact with the inner face of the adjacent wall of the container and of such height as to conceal the pockets or cells from View while exposing the upper portions of the cigars to view.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

ANTHONY SCHNEIDER.

Witnesses:

Gno. E. BOLIVAR, ETHEL A. HATTIE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

